Calgary Foothills FC earned a 4-0 victory over an FC Edmonton academy squad, which included some club alumni, in Sunday’s first leg of two scheduled exhibition matches named the ‘Al Classico’. The return leg is to be played in Calgary on Saturday, May 5.

While Foothills FC will be seeing these two games as preparation for their upcoming Premier Development League season, these contests are also being used to drive a rivalry that could boost Canadian Premier League aspirations in both Calgary and Edmonton.

Visiting head coach Tommy Wheeldon Jr. will know rivalries are the life blood of the sport and was quick to praise the over 3,000 fans who attended the exhibition game, despite the unseasonable single-digit temperatures. The crowd also included a contingent from Calgary who journeyed 300km north on the QE2 by bus.

“Regional rivalries are critical to the success of professional sports teams. As far as Alberta right now goes, that rivalry is now in place.” – Jay Ball, FC Edmonton general manager

“That was enjoyable, wasn’t it,” said Wheeldon. “Great support. Great crowd. Awesome for our lads to play against them. Really enjoyed it.

“It’s a rivalry, isn’t it? We want to drive that. It’s great to play up here against Edmonton, because they’ve got a good history as a pro club. You could see that with the crowd they’ve got.”

FC Edmonton’s general manager Jay Ball applauded the efforts made by everyone involved in putting on the event.

“I want to thank all the volunteers that staffed the game,” said Ball. “It was entirely staffed by volunteers from our announcers down to our set up crew. We could not have done it without them. So my hats off to everybody who came out to support the club.”

“I want to thank everybody from Foothills, all the fans particularly who traveled up on the bus,” he said. “I want to thank Tommy for giving us a good game. And I want to thank players on both teams that put on an absolute fantastic show for all our fans.”

“Regional rivalries are critical to the success of professional sports teams,” said FC Edmonton’s GM. “As far as Alberta right now goes, that rivalry is now in place.”

Tommy Wheeldon Jr. admitted that Sunday’s contest felt more significant than the standard pre-season contest. And that’s the way he wanted it.

“We’ve had a long pre-season,” he said. “Today was the first game where it felt like a game where we needed to perform to get a result. I was delighted with the way we performed. We wanted to treat it like it was three points on the line. It’s about pride. It’s the Al Classico, as the supporters have dubbed it, and we want to win it.”

Foothills FC goaltender Marco Carducci would prove less busy than his opposite number, but he did pull off a fine full-stretch diving save when called upon in the second half.

And Canadian women’s international goaltender Stephanie Labbé replaced Carducci for the final 10 minutes, for what turned out to be anything but an uneventful cameo.

Labbé first rescued Foothills FC from a defensive mix-up, bravely diving at the feet of an onrushing attacker after a giveaway. And shortly after, the Canadian international pushed a venomously struck effort from close range over the bar to preserve the clean sheet.

What is the Al Classico?

The term ‘Al Classico’ is a local take on La Liga’s El Clásico – the name given to any football match between fierce rivals Real Madrid and FC Barcelona.

When news of the Canadian Premier League was developing, Canadian soccer fans began pondering potential local rivalries. ‘Al Classico’ was suggested as the soccer version of the Battle of Alberta and local supporters drove the initial concept.

Sunday’s match in Edmonton was the first one played under the borrowed moniker.

The ‘Al Classico’ second leg between Calgary Foothills FC and FC Edmonton is set to take place at the Calgary Soccer Centre May 5 at 2pm. Admission is free.

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Editor of Total Soccer Project | Photographer and Writer | Twitter: @StuartGradon |
Stuart Gradon is a multimedia professional, having worked at 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil and 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup in Canada.